Saving for your first home

Buying your first home is a huge step and one of the biggest purchases you will make in your life, you need to know what you’re getting in to. A big part of the process is saving for a deposit. If you save $500 a week, it would still take you 5 years to afford a 20% deposit on an average-priced house in Sydney.

Below are 3 simple tips to get on track to saving for that deposit.

Check your current spending

Work out what you are currently spending your money on and set up a weekly budget of your income and expenses to work out how much you will be able to save per week. You can use our online budget planner calculator to help you work this out.

See what expenses you can cut out or reduce the cost off (car insurance, phone bill, petrol, luxury items)

Getting on top of your debts

Getting on top of your debts can sometimes seem hard and feel like you are not getting anywhere. Its a good idea to consolidate your debts and work out a weekly or monthly repayment plan so you can work on saving for that deposit.

Start to save

You will need to save at least 5% deposit of the purchase price of the property to be eligible for a loan. If you are looking to borrow less than 20% you will also have to pay for lender's mortage insurance

You will also need to keep in mind of other upfront costs excluding the deposit which you will need to be able to cover (Insurance, taxes, legal fees, moving costs)